This is backyard BBQ chicken done the Meat Church way. We start by brining a whole chicken in Meat Church Bird Baptism Brine to lock in moisture and flavor. After spatchcocking the bird for even cooking, we season it generously with Meat Church Honey Bacon BBQ Rub and roast it in a Traeger pellet grill until the skin is golden and crisp. To finish, we glaze the chicken with Meat Church Holy Cola BBQ Sauce, creating that perfect sweet, smoky, sticky BBQ bite. This method delivers juicy meat, beautiful color, and classic BBQ flavor every time.
Ingredients
- 1 Whole Chicken
- Meat Church Honey Bacon BBQ seasoning
- Meat Church Holy Cola
- Honey to taste
- 1C Meat Church Bird Baptism
- Water
- 6-8 C ice
Brine
Thoroughly mix 1 cup of Meat Church Bird Baptism with 4 cups of water in a medium stock pot. Bring nearly to a boil to dissolve the salt & sugar.
Remove from the heat and add 6-8 cups of ice to completely cool the liquid.
Place the chicken in a food safe container. Fill the container with the brine mixture making sure to completely submerge the chicken. Add more water to cover the cicken if necessary.
Refrigerate and brine overnight.
Remove the bird from brine, rinse thoroughly and pat dry.
Prepare your smoker
Prepare your smoker at a temperature of 325°. In this video we used a Traeger Woodridge with Meat Church pellets (oak & hickory). Mesquite or pecan would also be good choices.
Spatchcock the chicken
Using poultry shears or a sharp knife, cut along side the backbone on both sides to remove it.
Remove the kiel bone.
You can see a great example of this process in this video.
Season the chicken liberally on all sides with our Honey Bacon BBQ rub.
Optionally, using your hands, carefully seperate the skin from the breast meat and lightly season the meat underneath the skin.
Allow the seasoning to adhere for at least 15 minutes.
Smoke the chicken
Place the chicken on the cooking grate. Cook the chicken until it hits 155 internal temperature in the breast.
When you are nearing that temperature, warm a mixture of 2:1 Holy Cola BBQ sauce and honey.
Once the chicken hits 155° internal, glaze the chicken with the BBQ sauce\honey mixture.
Remove the chicken when it reaches 160 degrees internal temp in the deepest part of the breast using your Instant Read Thermometer. The chicken will continue to carry over cook due to the radiant heat and get to 165. Removing by 160 will keep the chicken from drying out.
Carve your chicken and enjoy!
